ETHNOGERIATRIC COMPETENCIES

Developed by the Stanford Geriatric Education Center

Assess and describe their own cultural and spiritual/religious values and discuss the effect of those values on their health care beliefs and behavior.

Identify and understand the heterogeneity within categories and groups of ethnic elders and their families.

Assess their clients’ position on the continuum of acculturation in relation to their preferences, perceptions, and definitions, and their explanatory models of physical and mental health and illness, their health literacy, and their health behaviors.

Demonstrate interviewing skills which promote culturally appropriate decision-making and mutual respect between health care providers and ethnic clients and their families in patient centered care throughout the continuum of their lives, including end-of-life care.

Communicate effectively and elicit information from elders of any ethnic background and their families, particularly those who speak little or no English, with appropriate use of interpreter services and information technology.

Communicate with ethnic elders and their families using oral and written strategies mindful of health literacy levels and abilities.

Explain the importance of cultural and historical experiences (e.g., historical trauma from racism and discrimination) and describe their effect on the older client’s help-seeking behaviors, and their access and utilization of health care services, including emergency preparedness.

Identify available resources within older individuals, their families, and their ethnic communities for promoting and maintaining elders’ physical, mental, and spiritual health, and support those resources in a respectful way.